The Importance of Proof Reading your Hubs

I actually thought about sharing this story earlier this week when it happened, to emphasise the importance of proof reading on Hubs. I didn't - through embarrassment - but have decided it might be a useful pointer to others. I promise, this is an absolutely true story and gives (in this instance!) an amusing glimpse of the confusion simple typos can cause.

A few days ago, an editor whom I know fairly well (fortunately!) contacted me and asked me to check an article and resubmit it to him when I had actually proofread it. I read the article and, confused, resubmitted without finding any faults.

He then called me from NYC (I am in the UK) to ask me which particular type of "Sweat" sauce I strongly recommended be served with the dish. He suggested foot sweat, underarm sweat - and more.

Clearly, it was a food article and this was one occasion where a single letter typo made a huge difference. I have been told a million times before - read, re-read, go away and leave it and read it again. We don't always have time when we're publishing Hubs - I know that. We should, however, make that time wherever possible. If this helps you avoid a little embarrassment in future, the post has been worth it.

I am in no doubt, Earnest, that had I not known the particular editor, he would simply have corrected it as a typo and no more would ever have been known of it. He was simply amused by the nature of the typo and testing whether I picked up on it. Probably 99.999% of the time, a one letter typo would clearly show as a typo and be meaningless - I was just unlucky in that it gave a whole new meaning to my piece...

Eek, that WOULD be embarrassing! I know I have a really hard time proof-reading my own articles, because my brain knows what it SHOULD say, and tends to tell me that instead of what it DOES say.

A couple of months ago I published a hub about the importance of...well, I can't even remember what was important right offhand. I can tell you, though, that I shared the link on Facebook, where it was pointed out to me that I'd missed a rather important R in the title.

It's not just spelling, typographical and grammatical errors that will get you, either. It's contextual errors as well.

The technical term for the way a piece of music is played is "execution." When I was in graduate school, I had written dozens of papers on musical execution and used the word routinely. However, when I was writing about Mozart, I mentioned that his Paris symphonies were inspired by the execution of the Paris orchestra. Unfortunately it was the 1780s and my paper came back with a number of points off, and a guillotine drawn in the margin by my professor, in red ink, no less. That paper hangs over my desk to this day as a reminder to check for unintended meanings!

Very good advice. Proof-reading is very important, I always try to make sure that I go over my work for any errors before submitting them. Still, there has been instances where one or two have been able to slip past. Fatigue and lack of sleep are contributory factors to mistakes, and proof reading while in a tired state is more likely to result in having a few mistakes getting through.

I try to read, re-read, preview, and then proofread. Inevitably, I will still find an error or two. How do those hubs with horrific spelling stay alive? They are there, but how?

Also, I find it is easy to have a hard time seeing spelling and grammar errors when writing late as I often do. I try to wait and actually publish after I proofread it in the daylight. Not sure how much that helps, but hopefully it does.

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